Elf-like Life

Chapter 54, The Great Crystal Passage

So this is the Grand Crystal Passage!

Everything hidden behind the waterfall was finally revealed before our eyes.

No wonder this mountain range is called the Great Crystal Mountain, the waterfall is called the Great Crystal Waterfall, and the narrow shortcut is also known as the Great Crystal Passage, because there are crystals everywhere.

To be precise, the lobster soldier chose an internal shortcut that allowed him to traverse the mountains.

The three little ones are like walking through a mountain tunnel. As long as they pass through the large crystal passage, they can shorten the journey time by half.

There are crystals on the left rock face.

The rock face on the right is still covered in crystals.

Crystals are everywhere, in front and behind, left and right.

"Hey everyone, perk up and get through here quickly, we've already wasted enough time!"

Soldier Lobster led the way, followed quickly by Charmander and Pikachu.

It can be said that the entire passage is quite wide, and it is a straight road that goes all the way to the end.

However, there is a section in the middle that requires you to duck your head and crawl through.

The terrain inside the cave is rugged and uneven. Sometimes, giant crystals hang from the top rock walls, and you can't get through unless you crawl on your stomach.

The crystal refracts a lot of light.

Some of them are even breathtakingly beautiful.

As for the wild Pokémon that inhabit the Great Crystal Passage, most of them are diurnal.

Pikachu and Corphish were fine, but Charmander was extra careful as they moved around because there were quite a few Water-type Pokémon.

The lobster soldiers were quite competent; they had done a lot of research before choosing this shortcut.

For example, this time period can avoid fighting with the more aggressive small forked-tailed weasels and will not wake up the mud loaches and mosquito tadpoles at the entrance.

If you go a little further in, you will step into a damp cave with puddles of water.

The most common creatures in this area are vine monsters.

However, the vine monsters usually hide in dark corners and watch everyone with their eyes, mostly waiting silently for them to pass by.

The only vine monster that caused the trouble was quickly driven away by Charmander's flames, and then suddenly emerged from a dark corner, startling Pikachu.

"Wow, that scared me to death! It gets darker and darker the further we go in."

"Luckily, Charmander intervened in time, almost scaring the Treant!"

Charmander also carefully observed his surroundings and found that the light was indeed getting dimmer.

The lobster soldier at the front didn't care about anything; he just rushed along at top speed, wanting to get out of the Great Crystal Passage before dark and take it down as quickly as possible.

"Hey, can you guys hurry up!"

The crystals on the left rock face are starting to decrease.

The crystal on the right gradually turns blackish-purple.

The fantasy has been given a touch of darkness.

The little dragon observed that the crystals in the large crystal passage had changed color.

For example, the crystal at the entrance is bright blue, and the deeper you go, the darker the color of the crystal becomes. Around the 7th or 8th floor, it turns into this purplish-black crystal.

"Pikachu, don't you think these purplish-black crystals are more valuable and rarer? Wouldn't we make a fortune if we collected them?"

Upon hearing this, the lobster soldier at the front casually chimed in:

"Hey, a newbie is a newbie, that kind of thinking is too naive~"

"The crystals here have to be specially mined to fetch a good price in town!"

Lobster Soldier is right. Although the Great Crystal Passage is full of crystals, mining these crystals is extremely difficult. Even Lobster Soldier with its powerful crab claws doesn't dare to mine them casually.

The first method is too weak; the inexperienced sprites can only collect some impure crystals, which are only worth the price of a collectible.

The second method, using too much force, has a high chance of shattering the valuable crystal.

In short, the valuable crystals here probably account for less than 3%.

If they could quietly make a fortune from the crystals in the Great Crystal Road, the little elves in Treasure Town would probably have stopped doing anything and spent their days searching for crystals here.

Dark purple crystals can only refract dim light.

The further you go, the dimmer the light becomes.

The scattered purplish-black crystals reminded Charmander of the Holy Grail he had just seen, whose water was black.

"Wait, Pikachu!"

"The color of these crystals is very similar to the one that flowed from the Holy Grail I saw. Do you have any clues about the Holy Grail War?"

Pikachu turned its little head:

"Ah, the Holy Grail War!"

I remember seeing some records about the Holy Grail War at a seminar once.

However, it was in the history book section of the main library, and Pikachu had not read it in detail.

I've only seen rough records of it, and that's all I know about the Holy Grail War.

"Oh, little Charmander, meeting you has really been a blow to my confidence."

"You always manage to bring up rare encyclopedic knowledge that I've never even touched upon."

"It's really a bit unreasonable that I, a scholar of encyclopedic knowledge, haven't even thoroughly studied the details of the Holy Grail War."

Charmander also expressed his understanding, after all, if all the encyclopedic knowledge were added together, a Pokémon probably wouldn't be able to learn it all in a lifetime.

In addition, Pikachu's degree will certainly cover areas of expertise as well as areas of weakness.

For example, obscure knowledge like the Holy Grail War.

It's probably not a big deal if we don't know for sure; for now, we can only pin all our hopes on the Grand Library.

I really hope that when I go to the big library again, I can find out the whole story about my background!

"Hey, you two!"

The lobster soldier never turned around, continuing to lead the way earnestly as always:

"Why are you all chatting and laughing like this in the maze? This is supposed to be the Great Crystal Road, so get serious!"

"Are you guys always this rowdy? Remember this, this is an official expedition, not a joke!!"

The two little ones immediately became serious: "Yes!"

The light is getting dimmer.

Until the lobster soldier suddenly heard a loud noise!

Boom, gurgle gurgle boom boom—

"Stop! What's that sound?!"

The lobster soldier immediately became alert, feeling that the sound was extremely close to him, and it kept coming up and down.

Based on my experience, there shouldn't be any water-type Pokémon that can make that kind of sound, and it's unlikely to be the Forkedtail Weasel or Mudskipper that live here.

Gurgle Gurgle Boom X2 —

"Hey, this noise just won't stop! Everyone, be on your guard!!"

At the last moment, just as the lobster soldier turned around, Pikachu and Charmander scratched their heads simultaneously, unable to suppress their bulging bellies.

It turns out I was hungry.

It kept making gurgling noises.

"Um, sorry, Captain Lobster, we should probably eat something..."

Lobster Soldier looked exasperated.

"Hey, what's going on with you two!"

"All you ever think about is eating! We haven't even finished the Great Crystal Road yet! Are you two Snorlax?"

The two little ones looked embarrassed and awkward.

"Forget it, let's rest here!"

"Everyone, please finish your packed meals before continuing!"

Hunger is still the biggest enemy! The two little ones are getting hungry again. We haven't finished exploring the Great Crystal Passage yet, so let's keep going!

(End of this chapter)